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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25992529">eat my feelings (head held high)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeeharley/pseuds/yeeharley'>yeeharley</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Formation (2020 Whump Bingo Collection) [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Villain Quentin Beck, Whump</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 02:34:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,784</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25992529</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeeharley/pseuds/yeeharley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone steps out from behind the light, lowering its intensity until Peter can make out the distinct form of a person- a man, he realizes, wearing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt and what looks like a pair of basketball shoes. </p><p>He looks like he's just gotten out of bed, not like he's just knocked Peter out in an alley and tied him to what feels like a dining room chair. He's got one of those three-day beards and the glasses he's wearing- a weird octangular shape- make him look like one of Peter's middle school teachers.</p><p>This guy- Peter's kidnapper- looks like he could be anybody.</p><p>But there's something about his eyes that makes him look like one of the most dangerous people Peter's ever seen. This cold, crazy look, just a bit too far beyond calm, that he's seen in only a few opponents so far.</p><p>It sends chills down his spine. Peter gulps, taking a deep breath, and looks up to meet his kidnapper's eyes with the steeliest gaze he can muster.</p><p>"Hi, kid," the man says, grinning gleefully. "Glad to see you're awake."</p><p>(Quentin Beck takes Peter in a twisted plot to get back at Tony, and the only way he can get him back is to play a twisted game of hide and seek)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Formation (2020 Whump Bingo Collection) [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1899532</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>184</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>eat my feelings (head held high)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This fulfills the beaten and trophied prompt from my whump bingo card. I hope everyone enjoys it!<br/>My tumblr: silver-bubbles</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Peter Parker. Spider-Man. Stark's little intern. You go by a lot of names, don't you, kid?"</p><p>Peter blinks furiously, eyes watering against the bright light shining down at his face. He can't see straight, can't seem to focus on any one thing in front of him.</p><p>Can't see the source of the voice.</p><p>It might be some kind of head trauma- he's dealt with injuries like that before, and they're a bitch to recover from. But, normally, concussions are healed before he wakes up. The longest it's ever taken for him to get back to normal is a few hours, maybe half a day at most.</p><p>This isn't a head injury.</p><p>A bright bulb hovers in his vision, multiplying into two, three, four, and then melding back down- three, two, one. Out, in, out, in, undulating like one of those creepy deep-sea fish he's watched documentaries about.</p><p>He's supposed to be focusing, Peter thinks blearily, but he can't focus if he doesn't know what's happening. What did he need to focus on again? Was it the light? Lights? How many are there, anyway?</p><p>"Wow, you're really out of it, aren't you?" The voice says again, punctuated with a harsh chuckle. </p><p>Oh. That's what he needs to focus on. </p><p>Find the source, find the source, find the source find the source findthesource-</p><p>Someone steps out from behind the light, lowering its intensity until Peter can make out the distinct form of a person- a man, he realizes, wearing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt and what looks like a pair of basketball shoes. </p><p>He looks like he's just gotten out of bed, not like he's just knocked Peter out in an alley and tied him to what feels like a dining room chair. He's got one of those three-day beards and the glasses he's wearing- a weird octangular shape- make him look like one of Peter's middle school teachers.</p><p>This guy- Peter's kidnapper- looks like he could be anybody.</p><p>But there's something about his eyes that makes him look like one of the most dangerous people Peter's ever seen. This cold, crazy look, just a bit too far beyond calm, that he's seen in only a few opponents so far.</p><p>It sends chills down his spine. Peter gulps, taking a deep breath, and looks up to meet his kidnapper's eyes with the steeliest gaze he can muster.</p><p>"Hi, kid," the man says, grinning gleefully. "Glad to see you're awake."</p><p>"Wha-" </p><p>Peter's mouth feels like it's full of gauze; he can't muster up enough energy to clear his throat and speak like a normal human. There's something wrong with his head, something fuzzy and distinctly out of place. His brain's been covered with a layer of cloud, soft and cold and comforting, and he wants to lie down and watch as it forms shapes. He used to do that with Ben and May- they would go to Central Park, lie down in the grass, and watch the sky as dozens of clouds drifted across their vision, morphing into things only they could understand.</p><p>He wants to go back to those days.</p><p>He doesn't want to be here.</p><p>"Aww, Pete," the man says, and Peter hadn't even realized he'd spoken out loud. "I'm sorry about that. But, you see-" He takes a step forward, arms swinging by his sides- "you don't have a choice."</p><p>Peter groans and pulls at the ropes holding his arms down. He should be able to break them, should be able to get free, but the clouds in his brain are shifting and he can't seem to muster up enough strength to move.</p><p>"Who- what's goin' on?" He asks blearily, blinking again as the lights get more intense. "Wha's goin' on?"</p><p>"I wish I could tell you." No, he doesn't. "It's not about you, kid." Yes, it is. "I just have a bone to pick with our mutual friend." Stark or Spider-Man?</p><p>The man turns and walks away, his outline blurring as the lights take over Peter's vision. His eyes are burning, and he wants nothing more than to go to sleep and wake up safe with his family. Wants to see May and Ben, maybe Tony. Wants to disappear for a little while.</p><p>The last thing he hears before his eyes close and he slips into the cloudy sky of his mind is a quiet laugh.</p><p>"My name is Quentin Beck, Peter. I'm so glad we were able to meet."</p><p> -🕷-</p><p>Tony and May don't realize Peter's missing until it's too late, and they both know that they'll be kicking themselves over it until Peter's old and gray and safe. He hasn't bothered to text or call either of them- that's probably why they didn't notice at first- and that's not really unusual. He tends to go off the grid for hours upon hours at a time, busying himself with schoolwork or patrol and becoming so engrossed with whatever he's doing that the outside world simply fades away. May and Tony had realized this the third time they'd panicked after realizing that they couldn't reach him when he'd been completely detached for five hours, and they had tamped down their worry for a bit.</p><p>This time, he doesn't answer their texts or calls for six hours, and that's when they start to think that something might be wrong. Six hours of radio silence from a seventeen-year-old who quite literally has the lives of other people in his hands.</p><p>May had learned to cut him some slack when he had told her about Spider-Man. At first, it had been a terrifying thing for her to know that the last remaining part of her family was out there on his own, fighting people who had the ability to destroy him.</p><p>The Infinity War had changed all of that. </p><p>She had realized that her little boy wasn't really a little boy anymore- that he had been crushed and shot and had actually <em>died </em>on a planet light-years away from her reach, with only Tony to hold him and comfort him as he'd drifted away.</p><p>That he was strong, capable, traumatized. </p><p>That he needed space.</p><p>So May had given it to him. Tony had given it to him. Ned and MJ and everyone else who knew had given it to him, because <em>God, </em>it just didn't feel right to baby someone who had been such a big part of saving the world.</p><p>Maybe they'd given him a little bit too much space.</p><p>Tony's in the lab when he gets the notification, lighting up his phone as he works on the latest prototype of Peter's new suit. He doesn't think to check it right away- after all, if Peter made him wait six hours for a text, he can wait until Tony's finished with the last part of the hip joint (it just isn't stretching right).</p><p>He keeps working on the joint, loosening it and tightening it until it feels like Peter might actually be able to move. His phone sits beside his elbow, silently humming as a live stream notification reappears over and over again.</p><p>It isn't until May texts him that he bothers to check, and when he does, his blood runs cold.</p><p>
  <em>tony check your phone</em>
</p><p>
  <em>livestream</em>
</p><p>
  <em>peter</em>
</p><p>
  <em>tonny checkyour phon</em>
</p><p>He does as she says, unplugging his earbuds and opening up the notification tagged 'LIVESTREAM- PETER'S PHONE'. FRIDAY stops his music as if she knows that something's wrong, and maybe she does.</p><p>Tony can feel it before the screen flips from black to a video of someone he's intimately familiar with, someone with watering eyes and pale skin and a bloody wound on his forehead. Red drips down the side of his face, drying next to his left ear, and the cloudy look in his eyes is enough to tell Tony that he's suffered a pretty bad head injury. He's tied to a chair, wrists, ankles, and waist bound so tightly it's cruel. </p><p>Peter Parker, Tony's honorary kid, looks <em>so damn scared.</em></p><p>May texts him again, but he can't take his eyes off of the video. He swipes her notification upward and mentally apologizes; she's probably freaking out just as much as he is, if not more, because Peter is her <em>son. </em>Biological or not, he is her son. </p><p>And he's hurt.</p><p>"Mister Stark," someone says offscreen- a man, distinctly, and probably a coward, too. "It's been a while."</p><p>"Hold on, kid," Tony murmurs, even though Peter can't hear him. "Hold on."</p><p>"You probably want to know why I've taken your little Spider," the man says, and he swears under his breath. Peter's identity could be compromised if this guy knows it and decides to share it. "I'd love to tell you, but I don't think that would be any fun. So we're going to play a game."</p><p>Peter's eyes clear a bit, then, as if he knows that something is very, very wrong. His left hand twitches beneath the rope holding it in place, but the movement is so feeble and tired that Tony knows he can't get out. He groans, ever-so-quiet, and strains against his bindings, but all it does is hurt him.</p><p>The speaker steps out from behind the camera. His shoes squeak against the concrete as he makes his way over to Peter's chair, stepping behind him and turning to face the camera, and it's only when Tony sees his face that he knows how insanely serious this situation is.</p><p>Quentin Beck smiles toothily and places a hand on top of Peter's head. His fingers rake through Peter's curls like he's petting a dog, and Tony wants to vomit at the thought of this man's hands on his child. Peter looks like he wants to be sick, too, and he pulls forward as far as he can with the ropes holding him still. A quiet whimper crawls past his lips, soft and scared, and something in Quentin's eyes hardens.</p><p>Tony always knew he was a madman.</p><p>Quick as a flash, the fingers in Peter's hair tighten and <em>yank </em>backwards with enough force to pull the front legs of the chair clear off of the ground. Quentin pulls his head back so that the only thing Tony can see of his face is his chin, neck strained toward the ceiling, held upright only by a handful of curls. </p><p>The yelp that carries through the speakers is enough to bring Tony to tears.</p><p>Beck, still smiling serenely, guides Peter's head back to the point where the chair isn't even holding him up anymore- the only thing keeping it from crashing to the floor is the grip Beck has on his hair. Carefully, almost gently, Beck turns Peter to the side so that Tony can see his profile, can see the tears in his eyes and the way his teeth are gritted against the pain.</p><p>"Do you have anything to say to Mister Stark?" He asks, voice sugary sweet and threatening. "Do you have anything to say, Peter?"</p><p>But Peter, this <em>incredibly brave kid, </em>doesn't say anything. Instead, he gathers up a mouthful of saliva and spits it into Beck's face.</p><p>"No," Tony mutters, biting his lip. "No, Peter, just <em>cooperate-</em>"</p><p>But the damage is done. Beck tilts his head to the side, looking down at Peter like a lion about to devour its prey, and reaches up with his free hand to wipe the spit from his face.</p><p>"You shouldn't have done that," he growls. "You <em>really </em>shouldn't have done that."</p><p>And, like a child who had grown sick of his toy, he <em>lets go.</em></p><p>Tony watches through the camera as Peter falls as if in slow motion, mouth opening into an 'o' before his head cracks against the hard floor. He bounces, once, twice, before going boneless. It's sickening, the way his head tilts to the side, a puppet with its strings cut loose. </p><p>Beck steps forward in the red haze of fury behind Tony's eyes, almost stepping on Peter's head in his path. He makes his way over to the camera, moving leisurely, slowly, with all the time in the world.</p><p>The cards are in his hands.</p><p>"As I was saying before I was interrupted," Beck says, a small smile curving lazily across his lips as if he hasn't just given Peter a potentially traumatic brain injury. "I want to play a game of capture the flag. I'm sure you know how it works- you went to elementary school, after all- but, because I can't see your answer-" a chuckle- "I'll explain it again.</p><p>"The object of the game is to find the opposing team's flag. If you find the flag, you win the game." Pause. "Simple, right? Just find my flag." Beck points back toward Peter, unconscious on the floor. "Your <em>pet </em>here is the prize. You win, you take him." The lazy smile morphs into that familiarly wicked grin. "I win, and he's mine."</p><p>
  <em>No.</em>
</p><p>"The game starts now, Mister Stark," Beck says. "Good luck."</p><p>And, with that, the camera cuts out.</p><p> -🕷-</p><p>They look all over the city in a desperate search-and-rescue mission, and they find nothing.</p><p>Tony calls Steve and Natasha in from where they'd been hiding in Wakanda with T'Challa, even if it makes him feel like he's lost. Steve doesn't fight him, doesn't ask questions, doesn't make him apologize. He just comes, showing up the next day in a borrowed plane from Shuri, T'Challa's sister, with Sam and Natasha in tow.</p><p>He meets them on the roof of the Tower and, before he can thank them, Steve is pulling him into a hug and telling him that he's sorry and he's ready to help however he can. Natasha apologizes, too, and says that she's always liked Spider-Man. Sam doesn't apologize verbally, but from the way he fervently starts his search, flying above the city and sending out Redwing, Tony knows he's sorry, too.</p><p>May stays in the Tower. She eats breakfast with Pepper and cries, takes walks with Pepper and cries, watches television and cries. Tony walks in on the third day with nothing from Beck and no idea where Peter is to see her watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens and sobbing into her shirt, shoulders shaking. He sits down with her and puts his arm around her and cries with her, because they have <em>nothing </em>and Peter's been missing for <em>three days </em>and he doesn't know what he's going to do.</p><p>He blames himself, even if he hasn't said it.</p><p>Steve, Sam, and Natasha don't stop looking, no matter how dejected they seem. They scour every inch of New York for Peter, playing Beck's twisted game and coming up emptyhanded.</p><p>It isn't until the fifth day since Peter had gone missing that Beck sends out another video, and if the first one hadn't broken Tony's heart, this one definitely does.</p><p>They're in the tower's biggest living room when May's phone goes off with a <em>ding, </em>surrounded by computers, food wrappers, and notebook paper like they're cramming for an exam. Sam's just sent out Redwing for the third time that day, but even he's starting to fall apart, drooping eyelids and tired hands betraying the cheery facade he's trying to keep up. Natasha and Steve haven't looked away from Tony's biggest computer for seven hours, watching for any hint of where Peter could be, and she looks like she's about to pass out. May's crying again, trying to hide her tears with her sleeve. </p><p>Tony doesn't feel anything anymore. He has to get Peter back, and feelings won't do anything but get in his way.</p><p>The bright alert rings through the room and it's like a bomb's been dropped. May and Tony scramble for the former's phone, clicking the LIVESTREAM link again and waiting with bated breath as Sam transfers the video from the phone to the computer. Everybody clusters around the screen, former enemies shoulder to shoulder, holding hands and breaths and trying not to fall apart.</p><p>Then, the video switches on, and Tony's chest <em>plummets.</em></p><p>Peter looks, if possible, so much worse than he had during the first video. He's still tied to the chair, but the number of ropes around his limbs have multiplied- now, even his <em>neck </em>is held tight against the wood, restricting him so much that he probably can't move at all without hurting himself. There's a piece of shiny duct tape over his mouth and a bandana tied tight over his eyes, knotting around the back of his head. Tony can see a pair of bright orange earplugs in his ears, and judging from the way he's shaking, he can tell that Peter's been left like this for a <em>long time.</em></p><p>Sensory deprivation's a bitch when you aren't enhanced, but for Peter? This is <em>torture.</em></p><p>He's bleeding, too, a gash opened up on his temple and another on his cheek. There are bruises on the exposed parts of his arms, on his jaw, peeking out from below the bandana.</p><p>Beside Tony, May sobs again, burying her face in her hands. Sam stands and guides her out of the room as quickly as he can, leaving her in the hallway and returning to the couch where Natasha's typing furiously on the second computer.</p><p>Beck steps into view, and there are <em>bruises </em>on his knuckles. Tony has to close his eyes and take a deep breath before he can look back to the computer, resting his hand on the spot where Peter's head is as if it'll give him some sort of comfort.</p><p>A large hand rests on his shoulder. He turns to look at Steve, who nods and jerks his head toward Natasha and Sam.</p><p>"We're here for you, Tony," he says quietly. "We're going to find him."</p><p>Tony can't bring himself to nod.</p><p>"You're losing the game," Beck sings, taking light steps toward Peter's chair and placing his hand on his shoulder. Peter jumps, a muffled protest ripping itself from his mouth as he tries to jerk away. "And that means I keep the boy, Tony dear. That means I <em>win</em> him."</p><p>He wants so badly to close the computer, but that won't benefit anybody. No, the only way to catch this bastard is to watch and take his hints so he can find his kid. He settles for clenching his jaw so hard his teeth squeak and fixing his eyes on the only proof he has that Peter's still alive.</p><p>"But it's not very fun for me, I've gotta admit. I'm just winning too easily." Beck shrugs. His hand travels up from Peter's shoulder to his neck, then back to that awful spot at the back of his head, clutching his hair so mercilessly that Peter cries out in pain. "I wanted a competition. I wanted some <em>excitement, </em>and although Peter here's a wonderful guest, he's just <em>not that exciting.</em></p><p>"So I'm going to change the rules."</p><p>In the corner of his eye, Tony can see Steve pulling his phone out of his pocket and pressing record.</p><p>"I'm going to give you a hint," Beck says. "And I'm going to give you three hours. I am <em>exhausting </em>my houseguest." He loosens his grip on Peter's hair and places his other hand over his nose, pinching with his index and thumb. The kid, completely cut off from everything around him, tries to take a deep breath- Tony sees his chest jump, expecting air- before clearly panicking, shaking his shoulders as much as he physically can.</p><p>Beck, the sick bastard, laughs and keeps his fingers right where they are. Peter's jerking in his grasp, pulling so hard that Tony knows there are going to be ligature marks on his neck and wrists, so hard that his chair jolts off of the floor and moves before falling back.</p><p>His kid is <em>so strong. </em></p><p>He has a new appreciation for Sam taking May out of the room when Peter starts to sag against the chair, chest jerking in as he tries to take breaths and fails. Tony can't imagine the hell he's gone through over the past few days, but he knows how it feels to be helpless. Completely at your enemy's mercy.</p><p>He'd never wanted Peter to have to deal with that burden, but here they are. Now, they have to keep it from getting worse.</p><p>Steve poking at his side pulls him out of his fixation on the screen, but he doesn't look away until Peter's completely out and Beck lets go. The blond surreptitiously pokes his finger at Natasha, who has a look of grim satisfaction on her face. She turns to Tony and a swift nod lets him know that she's got what he wanted.</p><p>"He got sloppy," she says coldly. "Didn't properly encrypt his IP address." The smile that cuts its way across her lips is uncomfortably reminiscent of Beck's, but on Natasha, Tony finds himself smiling back.</p><p>"We've got him."</p><p>-🕷-</p><p>They leave right away, gearing up faster than they ever have for any of their Avengers missions. It sends Tony back to the good days, when he and Steve were still on alright terms, when they'd been teammates. Before Natasha had betrayed him, in those precious years where she had checked in on him and made sure he'd been doing alright.</p><p>Sam, he doesn't know very well. But he seems okay. At least, he does now. Before, the only impression Tony'd had of him was that he had thrown Peter through a window with that bitchy little Redwing of his. He's helping, though. That's gotta count for something.</p><p>May barely catches a glimpse of them on their way out through her teary eyes, but she sees Tony in the Iron Man suit- he hasn't touched the thing since that last battle against Thanos. That's how she knows he's found her son; there is literally nobody else in the world he would put that suit on for.</p><p>But he loves Peter with nearly all of his heart. He's told her, and she can tell that he's being honest from the look in his eyes.</p><p>So May, watching from the window of the tower as the sun goes down against the city's skyline, knows that her Peter's going to be home safe as soon as Tony can find him.</p><p>She knows he's going to be alright.</p><p>The IP address Natasha had been able to track leads them to a warehouse in Manhattan. Tony can tell as he barrels in from overhead that it's been abandoned for a while, but none of that analyzing prepares him for the painful thing he realizes when he lands outside.</p><p>This is an old Stark Industries warehouse, from way back in his weaponry days. This is <em>his creation, his property, </em>and Peter's been trapped here for <em>four days too long.</em></p><p>Part of him wonders if Beck chose this place on purpose.</p><p>The other part of him says, <em>of course, dumbass. </em>This entire situation is, after all, about him- his technology, his naming of Beck's invention, and his subsequent firing of his maniacal employee.</p><p>This isn't about Peter but, somehow, Peter has taken the brunt of the situation. And it's up to Tony to make it right.</p><p>He marches straight through the front entrance, blasting through the locked doors in a ruthless shot that he never would've taken before Thanos. There is no playing around, there is no negotiating, there is no mercy.</p><p>This is his kid. He's not going to beat around the bush, but he might beat Beck so badly he resembles one.</p><p>The front hall of the warehouse is empty, and so is the rest of the first floor. Steve and Sam agree to sweep the second and third, but Tony already knows where Peter's going to be, and a thermal scan from FRIDAY confirms it- both Peter and Beck are here.</p><p>"Fourth floor," he barks, motioning for Natasha to follow him. "Cover me."</p><p>There's a time where Tony would've been afraid Natasha would leave, walk away, turn traitor again. With Peter involved, though, she won't.</p><p>He doesn't have any choice but to trust right now.</p><p>They move up the stairs so quickly that their surroundings seem like they're blurring, fast-motion videos around slow-motion people. It feels like he's never going to reach Peter's heat signature, like he's moving too slowly, and that's something he can't stand.</p><p>So he speeds up.</p><p>Faster.</p><p>Faster.</p><p>Faster.</p><p>
  <em>Second floor, third floor, fourth floor.</em>
</p><p>Tony bursts out onto the landing of the highest floor, blasters at the ready, and bursts through the closest door on his right- the source of the signatures. His heart's beating so quickly that he can barely breath, a drum beat in his chest, <em>thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.</em> He recognizes this room, that concrete floor, those bloodstains. It's so intimately familiar that he feels like he's been here before, but no- that's just the videos. It's Peter who's been here, kept against his will, trapped and tortured and <em>so alone.</em></p><p>And there he is. Tony's out of the suit the minute he finds his kid, stumbling away as it stands on sentry mode, completely uncaring about the fact that Beck could show up out of nowhere and shoot him. Natasha's ready to shoot, anyways.</p><p>Peter matters more.</p><p>The bandana is still tied tight around his eyes- too tight, now that Tony can see him up close. Still, there are faint tear tracks peaking out from under the fabric. The duct tape over his mouth shines in the low light with a taunting gleam that makes him so <em>irrationally angry, </em>because it's not the duct tape's fault, it's Beck's.</p><p>Tony moves slowly as he crosses the room, furiously aware of the fact that Peter- bruised, beaten Peter- is so unaware of everything around him that he's got to be scared out of his mind. He's helpless, completely at Tony's mercy, and he needs to feel safe. Tony needs him to feel safe.</p><p>He stops in front of the chair, wincing as he sees how violently the kid's shaking, and reaches out to place a gentle hand on his cheekbone. His other hand goes to the back of his head, and Peter gives a full-body flinch. The rope holds him back, grating against his skin. Tony grits his teeth and brushes his thumb against his face as he works at the knot in the bandana, pulling it away from Peter's eyes as quickly as he can manage.</p><p>A pair of wide brown eyes stare back at him, dark and pupil-blown and red with tears and exhaustion, and it's the best thing Tony's ever seen. He can tell the minute Peter recognizes him, when he blinks and his eyes fill with tears. He tries to say something, but the duct tape over his mouth makes it impossible for Tony to understand.</p><p>He quickly removes the earplugs from Peter's ears and tosses them aside before placing his hands on both sides of his face and leaning in.</p><p>"Hey, Peter," he says softly. "It's okay, I'm here. I'm here. You're safe."</p><p>Peter tries to speak again, and Tony nods. "I know. This is going to hurt a little bit, okay? It'll be over soon."</p><p>He peels the tape away as gently as he can, wincing at the red marks it leaves behind on his skin. Peter takes a deep breath as soon as it's gone, but when he breathes out, it's more of a sob. "Mister Stark," he says, voice raw and tired. "Mister Stark."</p><p>"Yeah, kiddo, I know. I know."</p><p>Natasha hands him a knife and he goes to work on the ropes wound around Peter's skin, comforting him all the while. The first to go is the one around his neck, and he'd been right- there's a purple bruise cut into his skin from the constant struggling he'd been doing. The minute his neck is free, Peter slumps forward so far that his chin hits his chest and lets out a tired sob.</p><p>"It's okay, Peter," Tony murmurs. "You're going to be okay."</p><p>"Th-thank you, thank you, thank you," Peter chokes, curls limp against his face. Tony wants nothing more than to reach up and stroke them, just like he used to when the kid needed comfort, but he knows what Beck did and he doesn't need him any more panicked than he already is. </p><p>"You don't need to thank me," Tony murmurs, cutting the rope around Peter's chest and catching him as he falls forward. "I'd have done it no matter what."</p><p>"Promise?" Peter asks from his spot on Tony's shoulder, and he sounds so <em>young </em>that Tony actually does start crying.</p><p>"Anything for you, kid."</p><p>Because he would. In every universe, every reality, every timeline ever to exist.</p><p>
  <em>Anything for his kid.</em>
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